1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a property management system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a property management system, which assists personnel in completing a form that is required for the disposal of property.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern business practices, maintaining an accurate inventory of merchandise is crucial. In the past, taking an inventory was an entirely manual process, and therefore slow and expensive. Modem automated inventory systems have improved the accuracy and speed of this process while reducing its cost. As businesses grow, the need to accurately detail the transfer of various property becomes more vital as businesses seek to efficiently manage all assets.
Bar coding used for the identification of employees, tools, parts, etc. is now a well-known and proven input technology. Use of bar code scanning for data entry is rapidly replacing the keyboard, the once dominant input technology in many applications.
This swift change is the result of several factors. With bar code scanning, overall data entry performance improves because the equipment is easy to use. Less labor is involved, since typing is not required. Because there is no typing, spelling errors and other xe2x80x9ctyposxe2x80x9d are essentially eliminated. Accuracies of over 99% are the norm. Language barriers are non-existent; in fact, reading ability may not even be a factor as audible signals replace text as the means to indicate successful/unsuccessful completion of data entry.
While the use of bar codes in the United States dates from the 1950""s, only recently has bar code technology been combined with another well-known and proven technology, the database. By combining these technologies, powerful features can exist for collecting data and utilizing the database for processing the data.
Numerous innovations for inventory systems have been provided in the prior art that are described as follows. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present invention as hereinafter contrasted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,318 issued to Brown et al. on Nov. 20, 1990, a method of order entry, product selection and inventory control for building products, building accessories and building product components is described. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,544 issued to Schmerer et al. on Jun. 7, 1994, a system and method for monitoring and verifying inventory is provided which comprises a portable computer with a printer and a modem xe2x80x9ccabledxe2x80x9d together and maintained in a carrying case. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,994 issued to Ray on Jan. 10, 1995, a portable microcomputer inventory system is disclosed which includes a plurality of components and a support for supporting the components on an user as the user inventories items that have a bar code thereon. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,442 issued to Foster et al. on Apr. 4, 1995, a text, graphic or other selected objects of a computer screen are selected and converted into a xe2x80x9cvisual clipboardxe2x80x9d which is attached to a convenient boundary of the screen.
The above described patented inventions differ from the present invention because the patented inventions lack one or more of the following features: explanatory text and help features, a unique document number created from various codes, a program compatible with all types of printers, a program capable of duplicating an entire form and computer software having a computer software inventory therein.
Numerous innovations for equipment management systems have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
One object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide a system and method for assisting a user in completing a form. More particularly, another object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide a system and method that records information on an equipment disposal form for managing property. Also, the property management system incorporates a program, which can convert human readable text to a barcode. The property management system of the present invention is described as it pertains to form DD 1348-1A.
In carrying out the above objects of the present invention, a system is provided for setting up various help features to assist the user in completing a form. Those help features include colored overlaying text, hints and troubleshooting. The overlaying text allows a user to view the assistance features in fields of a computer screen layout, but the overlaying text will not appear on a final printed copy. The overlaying text is a different color from the text of the form, so the user may distinguish between the text. The hints assist the user in entering codes, numbers and other information. The troubleshooting feature lists frequently encountered problems and suggests a possible solution.
Advantages of the preferred embodiments include:
Automatic duplication of a form
Converting human readable text to a barcode
Providing various codes and acronyms for user assistance
Anticipating problems and providing the user with possible solutions
Creating a user-friendly system, which permits easy completion of a form
Inserting commonly used information into various sections of a form
Providing access to various codes and code definitions
Enabling the user to print a form to virtually any type of printer